Tattered Wings
by monamumbles
Summary: Alice suffers in silence after a tragedy at a high school party. **Very dark themes**
1. Prologue

Hello, everyone! This is the official rewrite of **Tattered Wings**. To those of you who have read the original version of TW, I wanted to say that I am so thankful for all your support and kind words. They have helped me through incredibly tough times. You may notice some major changes to the plot, starting with the very first chapter. I'm so excited for you guys to read this version and tell me what you think.

To those who are reading TW for the very first time, welcome and thanks for reading.

~Mona

Twitter: monamumbles

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

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Tattered Wings

Prologue

Maybe it was the beer that made Alice forget. It'd barely been a whole can, but it was her first, and it was strong. She wasn't drunk, yet the alcohol made her feel like she was dancing, even when she leaned against the wall. It was just enough alcohol to make her forget to lock the bathroom door behind her and just enough for her not to realize that the door was opening as she washed her hands.

And the music was too loud. The bass thumped, drowning out the sounds of his sneakers shuffling across the tiled floors. She hadn't seen him until she began to fix her smudging eyeliner. His face appeared just as she was wiping away the faint, black mark that smeared over the bridge of her thin nose. Skin, tanned from spending hours running outside, contrasted greatly against her alabaster cheeks. She gasped loudly at his reflection in the mirror above the sink, hearing her voice bounce and echo off the walls. He was close behind her, as if his presence were her own shadow.

Unlike Alice, _he'd_ had too much beer. The smell swirled around her, thick and hot like the steam from a kettle, yet she felt so cold with him there. Every pore on her body rose at the portentousness in his cobalt eyes; his grin was impish and it slowly spread over his flush face.

"What're you doing in here?" Alice whispered. Her voice spilled out all wrong and timid, and it made him laugh. A million other questions flooded her mind, but she spoke none of them. They were tiny screams, bottled inside her.

Shaggy, blonde strands, too long for his face, kept getting into his eyes. He pushed the hair away from his clammy forehead. Still smiling, he said, "I saw the look you gave me before you came up here."

Alice shook her head with fervor, "I-I wasn't looking at you-"

Slowly he put his arms on her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. Alice felt a sickening cold sweat break out across her body. Her heart began to pound, and it lurched into her throat; she nearly choked on it. Time itself slowed down as they moved in real time.

She pushed her elbows back, attempting to shrug out of his grasp, but he enveloped her and grabbed both of her wrists. "Get off me!"

"God, Ali!" he seethed through clenched teeth. "Stop playing these stupid games with me. You don't think I know you're teasing me with this dress on purpose? Don't act innocent now."

Again, Alice tried to jerk away, but he harshly pulled her to his body. His arms were like a snake around her; the more she pulled away, the tighter he constricted. With one hand, he held her wrists together, up to her chest. He looked at her through the reflection as his hands fumbled with the short hem of her blue, party dress. His hand slithered up to her hip, bunching the dress along his finger's trail. Cool air lashed at her bare skin once the dress gathered.

"Please…" Alice's last pleas came out ragged. Her voice broke and shook just as the tears burned her eyes. She turned away, unable to stand his gaze any longer.

"I'm just giving you what you want," he said with his mouth pressed close against her ear.

With her head turned, it gave him easy access to Alice's skin. Sloppily he bit down when he finally took every bit of her. Alice let out a shriek when she felt him. His calloused hand grabbed the back of her neck, forcing her to face the mirror.

"Look at me," he hissed.

She looked into his darkening eyes, glossed over from all the warm beer. She felt raw from the inside out, and her bones felt brittle as they crashed against the marble sink. It went on for far too long while time crept behind them. It was then she noticed that the water was still running. Steam fogged up the mirror at each corner, framing them together in the ugliest portrait.

His eyes closed as he wrapped her arms around her crumbling frame. Every push went deeper while his hand moved from her sore neck to her hair. Just moments before, people were gently running their hands through it. Even after knowing her for years, they were still amazed at the length. So was he, but his fingers were anything but gentle. They raked through the dark tendrils, roughly pulling and tugging. His fingers became tangled in a few of the curls, yanking her harshly by the hair. The spot began to ache and throb under his touch.

The room went dark around her, but the lights hadn't gone out. Everything disappeared, except for the reflection. Soon, she was just mirroring her own destruction.

Just as she thought she would collapse in his arms, he leapt away from her as if she were on fire. His reflection was nearly green as he hobbled over to the toilet and fell to his knees. With his jeans around his ankles, he wretched and coughed before falling at the side of the porcelain.

Time raced back to normal at a rapid pace, and the room appeared with lights too bright. It was like staring at the sun too long. She squinted, grabbing her purse from the top of the sink. Afraid that he might come around, her eyes stayed trained in his direction as she backed away towards the door. She held in the sobs that violently knocked at her chest, begging to be let out. She kept them in behind trembling lips and hushed cries.

He suddenly laughed idiotically. For a moment, she stopped in her tracks, believing that she was the joke. His eyes were still half-closed, and he was looking up at the ceiling. He was laughing at nothing, not at her; though, the two felt one and the same in that moment.

When she felt the doorknob poke at her back, she quickly opened the door. The music hit her, almost knocking her off her wobbly legs. They hadn't steadied as she flew down the spiral steps, passing by people and nearly tripping on the expensive rug in the foyer. She escaped through the open door, setting off the flood light's motion sensor. They still hadn't steadied as her heels stumbled in the grass. Finally she found the silver car parked under a big tree. She slid down in the grass beside the passenger's side wheel and took her phone out of her purse.

xxxxxxx

Edward felt the phone vibrate in the pocket of his pants with a jarring pulse. He ran a heavy hand through his auburn hair for the millionth time, just to elicit a smile from the girl by his side. They'd only made shy, small talk in class whenever their teacher hadn't been looking or said a few words during passing in the hallways before the party. They'd planned to speak to each other a few months back when they were meeting at her house to work on a biology project. The day had not gone as planned, however. She was too ashamed to look directly into his eyes a few weeks thereafter.

This party had been the first time they were actually getting to know each other, and one of the things he noticed was how she smiled every time he ran his fingers through his hair. It started as a nervous quirk. He saw the smile and began to do it consciously, so much so that his friends were mocking him from across the room. He mouthed a few choice words at them before taking his phone out to answer a text message from his sister.

_By the car. Can we go?_

He noted that the time on his phone was barely after midnight before gliding his fingers across the phone's qwerty keyboard.

_We just got here. R u ok? _he texted back.

_No can we please go?_ The response was almost immediate; he forgot all about his hair as panic set in.

Edward barely excused himself from the girl with the smile and his taunting friends to search through the sea of people.

"Angela!" he called out when he spotted her. There, talking to a few people that were already in college, stood a girl that was almost as tall as most upperclassmen boys. She held a red, plastic cup in her hand that she quickly put on the nearest table when she saw Edward coming.

"Please don't tell my dad-" she began, but Edward shook his head.

"I'm not a narc!" he yelled into her ear, trying to speak over the music. "Alice is outside! She wants to get out of here!"

Angela furrowed her eyebrows, "I thought she was in the bathroom!"

Edward shrugged, "Maybe she's not feeling well."

"What?"

He leaned closer, "I said, maybe she's sick! Are you leaving with us or do you want to stay with your friends?"

"No, I wanna make sure she's okay!" Angela yelled back.

Edward nodded before leading the way. They walked through the crowd, heading to the open, front door where kids were beginning to spill onto the lawn. After some searching, they found Alice sitting on the ground with her knees pulled up to her chest. She looked up when the motion sensor came on and she resembled a startled creature in the night; mascara bled onto her face and stained the top of her dress. Edward and Angela ran to her, helping her off the ground.

"Alice, what happened?" Angela and Edward asked at the same time.

"Are you okay?" Edward reiterated just a few moments later.

"I just want to go home," she said to neither of them in particular, fiercely pulling away from both of them. She wiped the mascara from under her eyes with the backs of her hands, smearing them down her arms.

"Tell me what's wrong," Edward said.

"I took something, and I'm scared- just please, let's go home." She lied, looking back at the house.

Angela's raised her eyebrows. They were just together less than twenty minutes ago. She hadn't known Alice to do anything as foolish as taking drugs. She wanted to know so many things. _What did she take? Who were they from? Why didn't she tell me about it?_

Edward gawked at his sister in disbelief. For some reason, the specials that the principal made them watch about kids doing drugs and drinking at prom came to his mind. He could smell a little alcohol on her breath, but she seemed sober enough. "You took something?"

"Please," she finally turned to him, looking up. Her eyes were unblinking and feral as he stared back. They were just like his deep green eyes, but she did not know them in that moment.

"Took something…like drugs?"

"God, Edward!" Alice yelled, hitting his chest with her hands. "Shut up and take. Me. Home."

Edward stumbled back a step, rubbing the sore spot through his shirt. He nodded slowly before taking the car keys out of his front pocket and pressing the automatic unlock button. Alice got into the backseat of the car. Angela glanced briefly at Edward's stunned face and shadowed Alice.

After a few beats, Edward slipped into the driver's seat and drove away from the party. They rode in silence all the way to Angela's house. Every few minutes, he looked at Alice in the rear-view mirror to check on her. He kept neglecting the road and had to slam onto the brake pedal at a few stop lights. Angela even had to let him know that he was driving past her house. He made a u-turn in someone else's driveway before stopping at her home.

"Bye, Alice. Feel better," Angela said as she got out, but received no response. She thought Alice may have drifted off to sleep, but her eyes wide open as the car drove off in the opposite direction.

Alice sat upright in the middle of the backseat. Edward kept checking in with her in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were focused on the road, still wide and wild. She looked like a doll in the seat, placed there by someone else.

When the car pulled into the long driveway, Alice finally took a deep breath. Their brick house with green shutters was nothing special, but now that Alice was home, it felt like a fortress. Edward had barely parked the car on the gravel that surrounded their house when the front door opened. Their parents appeared in the doorway, dressed for bed. Even from the car, Alice could tell that they were visibly anxious.

"You told them?" Alice asked, angrily. Her pale face was growing red as the betrayal she was feeling intensified.

Edward turned to face her in the backseat, wincing as if she would hit him again. "I had to text dad."

As she was getting out of the car, she heard him add, "I'm sorry, but you're scaring me-"

Alice stalked up to the door and her mother first approached her. Her father was inspecting her from a few feet away. Edward walked in sheepishly behind them.

"Honey, what did you take?" her mother asked, feeling her forehead.

"I dunno, it was ecstasy or something," she lied again, void of emotion.

"Or something?" her father asked, growing more enraged at her nonchalance.

"_It was ecstasy_." Alice raised her voice, matching his tone.

"Young lady, do you have any idea how serious this is? You both smell like a bar and…" Carlisle turned to Edward. "Did you drive home _drunk_? What has gotten into you two?"

Edward's ears turned red. "I just had a beer, I swear-"

"How do you feel, Alice? Maybe we should take her to the hospital-"

"No!" Alice shouted at her mother and everyone looked at her while tears fell. They were falling fast and she couldn't stop them, no matter how hard she tried. "Please, just let me go to my room. You can ground me in the morning, but please, I just want to go to sleep right now. Please."

Esme looked at her husband who was clenching his jaw tightly. Esme nodded as she said, "I'll be in to check on you soon, baby-"

Alice headed for the stairs. At the top, she found a white and brown, American bulldog. One of his spotted ears- a spot that covered his eye -perked up at the sight of Alice. He immediately stood up, wagging his tail before following her down the hall to her room. She shut the door once the dog was inside the room, but ignored him as she sat under the window in the corner. She pulled her knees up to her chest and cried. The dog whimpered, then lay down beside her with his head on his paws.


	2. Screaming

Thank you very much for the reviews. They're what I live for, as most of you know.  
~Mona :)  
twitter: monamumbles  
**DISCLAIMER**: I own nothing.

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**Screaming.**_  
_

_Steam from the hot water fogged Alice's reflection in the bathroom mirror above the sink. She swiped her hand across the glass until there was a clearer image of herself showing through. The steam immediately returned, blurring the mirror completely. She frowned. Just for a moment, she looked down to shut off the faucet. The mirror was no longer blurred; yet _he_ was there now behind her. Cerulean eyes caught her gaze, trapping her with an unseen and powerful force. In an instant, his hands were all over her. She felt his shaggy, flaxen hair sweep against her temple. She felt the biting and the groping. She smelled the alcohol mixing with the desire and fear in the room. She heard the vulgar words in her ears._

_Her mouth fell open to plead with him, as it always did, but her words were cut short, just as his hands enclosed her throat._

Alice was ripped away from her dreams when she felt a familiar stinging in the palm of her hands. Wincing, she slowly uncurled her fists with a soft whimper. Three of her fingernails had broken the skin during the night, leaving her with crescent-shaped gashes as a reminder of the vivid dream.

Esme hadn't gotten much sleep on the night of the party. She spent most of her time in the doorway of the room, watching Alice pretend to be asleep. Esme feared that Alice would choke on her vomit, just as someone else's daughter did in a news program that aired not too long before. In the days that followed, Alice's night terrors began.

The dreams were always the same, and each night, she would wake up screaming. Her screams awoke the whole house, but it was Esme that was first into the room. Alice would be in the bathroom, and then suddenly, she was being rocked in her mother's arms as Edward and Carlisle stood in the doorway. After the third, sleepless night, Edward stopped running into the room, and after the fifth, Carlisle had had enough.

He believed the drugs were the root Alice's bad dreams. After another night of pacing in the doorway, he went out and bought a home drug test. He'd shown up at the back door with a box in a plastic, grocery bag, instructing Alice to take the test. From the kitchen counter, Alice had stared at her father with contempt in her eyes and venom on her tongue. She'd wanted to tell them right then. It would have ended the charade, and she wouldn't have been treated like a parolee in her own home. But the words didn't come. The thought alone made her want to tear her flesh away, so she took the box and slammed the door when she got to the bathroom. Of course it'd come back negative, but Carlisle still grounded Edward and Alice for the remainder of their summer vacation, so it would stay that way.

Alice got better at suppressing her screams, and over time, she stopped altogether. Somehow, she'd forced herself not to, not matter how bad the dreams would get. She clenched her fists together each night before she went to bed, as though she were preparing herself for battle. Despite the seemingly quiet nights, Carlisle sporadically tested Alice twice more over the course of the summer. She wanted to be mad at her father, but it was her own fault. Alice kept telling herself that if she would just tell, maybe she wouldn't always see disappointment in her father's eyes. Instead, she hid.

She slipped into a depression, having to keep her suffering a secret. She often retreated into the confines of her room with her dog, Sid. It was much easier to hide because she wasn't allowed to leave the house, anyway, but even Angela began feeling the effects of her withdrawal. Angela would call to see how Alice was doing, but the conversation was very one-sided. Angela figured that Alice couldn't speak the way they normally did because of her parents being around, so Angela began texting. Alice's responses took longer and longer to arrive, and whenever they did, they were much too brief as if Alice couldn't be bothered. Figuring Alice needed space, eventually Angela stopped making contact.

It was then that Alice became truly alone. She spent most of the days outside in the backyard with Sid or up in her room, drawing. Drawing was one of the activities that kept her sane. When she was younger, Alice thought that her future would lead her into fashion. The girls in her grade often told her that she was a shoo-in for the _Best Dressed_ superlative senior year. She always had a great sense of style, which initiated the monthly fashion shows that were put together for Esme, Carlisle, Edward, and some of their friends. The clothes came from a combination of Alice's closet and her friends', who were the perfect models to work the catwalk. The "catwalk" had been only a long, cardboard trail that Edward helped tape together, and then glue on multi-colored glitter. All the kids had been washing and picking sparkles out of their hair for weeks after that, and to this day, Edward despised even mentioning the word "glitter".

Alice would sketch dress designs on computer paper and show them off to Esme, who noticed that the drawing skills excelled far beyond any twelve-year-old. Soon, though, Alice became bored with simply drawing dresses so she began to sketch Esme. That was the day she realized that her passion was in art. She gradually progressed from sketching faces to sketching scenery, and pretty soon, she was drawing whatever popped into her imagination. Being someone's wardrobe consultant or making outfits for some diva celebrity for the rest of her life would have definitely paid the bills, but there would be a void inside her that only art could fill. Lately, though, her sketches had lost their carefree nature. They had become rather dark and commanding.

A commotion outside the bedroom door jolted Alice to the present. Someone was marching back and forth in the hallway, noisily tumbling through rooms. Alice saw Sid sleeping near her feet as she sat up in bed. He barely acknowledged his master as she patted his head and threw her legs over the side of bed. As she stood up and stretched, she noticed a black and tan, ball python curled up near the nightstand. He was amongst a pile of discarded drawings and pencil shavings.

"How did you get in here?" she asked the snake, bending to pick it up. The snake uncurled itself and wrapped around Alice's wrist as she held the head in her hand. She felt his smooth skin against hers as he twisted and turned. His tongue slithered, darting out at her fingertips.

The footsteps in the hallway became louder as they neared her door. She heard Edward's voice before he came in, "Alice, have you seen-"

He walked into the room and immediately spotted what had comfortably wrapped herself around Alice's wrist. He exhaled deeply, frowning at the snake, as if he were on the brink of scolding a child.

"Missing someone?" Alice asked, holding up her arm as if to show off a new bracelet.

"Edgar, what're you doing in here?" He shook his head, walking over to them. Edward carefully took Edgar by the tail, in order to unwrap him from her wrist. When she was finally free, he observed the dried blood on the inside of her palm. "What happened to your hand?"

Reflexively, she pulled away from his grasp. "It's nothing," she lied. She was getting better and better at those.

He nodded twice, trying to decipher the odd look in her eyes. He couldn't be too sure, but it appeared to be vulnerability. That was the closest thing to a response he would get, but he expected as much. He reluctantly had adapted to these brief conversations with Alice by now. He was amazed that he had gotten nearly two, full sentences out of her so early in the morning.

Edgar slithered onto Edward's wrist, constricting a bit tighter than Edward would have liked. The snake was getting irritable. "Okay, okay, c'mon, let's get you back to your tank- hey, we're leaving in half an hour."

Edward left the room, shutting the door with his free hand. Alice grabbed her towel from the hook behind her door and went to the bathroom. Upon entering the room, she hung her towel over the medicine cabinet, covering the reflection. Alice hadn't looked into the mirror above the sink ever since that night. Other mirrors were okay, but it was the ones above the sinks that always made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She was always waiting for _him_ to appear behind her.

Once she was out of the bathroom, Alice dressed into a standard pair of skinny jeans and a band t-shirt. She didn't want to make a big fuss out of the first day to add to the anxiety that was already building. She brushed through her damp hair, untangling every strand, and then quickly curled the ends. Even curled, her hair still tickled her lower back. Honestly, curling the ends was the only thing keeping her from sitting on her hair.

After giving herself approval in the mirror behind her door, Alice went downstairs to the kitchen to find Edward already there. He was at the kitchen counter, eating a bowl of cereal. She didn't have much of an appetite at all in the weeks approaching the first day of school. She was much too nervous and her stomach was too anxious to keep anything down. As Edward noisily crunched away behind the counter, Alice opened the fridge door to retrieve a bottle of water. She drank, hoping it would settle the nerves in her stomach. Esme walked in as Alice was twisting the top of the bottle shut.

"You're not going to eat anything?" Esme asked, walking over to the coffee maker. She pressed a few buttons, and the machine came to life.

"I'm not very hungry," Alice responded, mostly to the bottle of water.

"Well, it's about that time." Edward gulped down the rest of his milk, tipping the bowl over his face. He walked around the counter to put his bowl into the sink, then went to kiss Esme on the cheek. "I'm officially not grounded anymore. See you _much_ later, mom. C'mon, Alice, let's go."

"Be right there," Alice said.

Edward tapped the watch on his wrist before retreating out the back door. Esme faced Alice as the smell of hazelnut coffee saturated the air. Esme reached out, tugging lightly on the shirt that was falling off Alice's shoulder.

"Look how this shirts fits you," Esme sighed. "Why aren't you eating?"

Alice shrugged, "I told you, I'm just not hungry."

"For the past week?"

She shook her head, attempting to leave, but Esme pulled her back by the arm. Esme looked into deep pools of green, searching for the little girl she once knew. Everything appeared to be the same, but her eyes were void of that special spark. Biologically, Esme was not Edward and Alice's mother, and that was obvious to even the most unobservant of people. Esme's hazel eyes were nowhere near the shade of emerald that theirs were, and her caramel colored hair was obviously lighter than the darkened qualities of theirs, but Esme was never one to be concerned with such a technical word as "adoption". _She_ was there to kiss away the pain from a scrape and _she_ was there to attend countless school plays and _she_ was there when they got home from a bad day at school and it was _her_ arms that made the screaming go away.

"It wasn't drugs, was it?" Esme asked.

Alice tried to shrug out of Esme's grasp, just as she did to Edward earlier, but her mother wouldn't let go that easily. "Mom, I have to go-"

"I just want my Mary Alice back," said Esme, sadly. At the mention of the name only Esme would call her, Alice's heart ached. "Was it drugs?"

Alice almost got the words out of her mouth when the horn honked. With her mother slightly distracted, she slipped out of the grasp before walking out the back door.

xxxxxxx

Sun fought to break through the ominous clouds that morning, but the clouds were just as relentless as always. The usual suspects were in the school parking lot when Edward pulled into an empty spot. Edward's best friend, Emmett McCarty, stood towering over most of the small crowd that were scattered around the lot like ants. Emmett appeared to be an absolute goon, standing at six-foot-three with muscles filling his plaid, button-down shirt. His dark brown hair was closely cropped and slightly curly, making his dark brown eyes appear menacingly black. Everyone usually was intimidated by Emmett upon first meeting him. At times, he used that to his advantage. To his friends, however, he was nothing more than a gentle giant.

As the Cullen duo approached, Emmett smiled, revealing his deep-set dimples. Alice broke away midstride, halfway over to Emmett. He watched Alice walk away without the usual kick in her step. This was not the girl he remembered growing up around, whose infectious smile was bigger than his own.

Edward looked over his shoulder, expecting see Alice close behind, but realized that she across the lot, opening the school doors.

"Hello to you, too, Alice," Emmett said, sarcastically when Edward strolled up. They shared a quick handshake. "How rude, where's she going?"

Edward shrugged, "Probably to go find Angela."

"Is she still, uh…you know-" Emmett tapped two of his fingers against the inside of his forearm, pantomiming a needle to his vein.

"My fucking sister is not on crack, Emmett!"

"Okay, okay." Emmett laughed. "You're finally out of lock down. I still can't believe you got a whole summer for some shitty beer."

"The whole thing was your fault."

"Hey, I was just the humble host of the party. I forgot most of the night, anyway."

"You forget Carmen Esposito?" Edward said, giving a sly grin.

"No, I'm never gonna forget that," he said as he mirrored the grin, briefly raising his eyebrows.

"So how does it feel to be going on your fifth year of high school?"

"Feels like me kicking your ass, I bet." Emmett made a straight face, but there were traces of a smile. Edward had never been able to take Emmett serious when his dimples betrayed him.

"Aw, bring it on, super senior." Edward got into a karate stance as Emmett pat his thighs like a sumo wrestler. Something very old and very rusty caught Edward's eye, though, so he didn't see it coming when Emmett whacked Edward in the back of the head.

"Ow- what the fuck?" Edward cried out, rubbing his head. Emmett laughed, looking in the direction that seemed to captivate Edward so much. He soon laid eyes on a faded, blue pick-up truck.

Emmett rolled his eyes, slightly pushing Edward in the direction. "Well, don't just stand there like a pervert. I'll see you inside, man."

Emmett walked off, leaving Edward alone to give himself his own spirit-boosting talk. He quickly made his way over to the old pick-up truck, just as she was getting out of the car. It took about twenty seconds- he counted –for her to untangle her book bag's strap from the car door. When she turned around, she found Edward standing there.

"Hey, Bella," Edward lamely greeted her, immediately berating himself soon after. After talking, texting, and instant messaging over the summer, he swore that the first words he would say would be profound and meaningful. He would touch her hair, look into her big, brown eyes, and tell her how beautiful she looked that morning. He would put on a pair of aviator sunglasses, despite the lack of sun. His arm would go over her shoulder, claiming her as his girl. Instead, he just waited for her response as the red in her cheeks deepened.

For a while, Bella memorized every inch of his boyish face, as if he would disappear. The pictures they traded through their cell phones did him no justice. She had plans of her own, too. She would take his hand, intertwining their fingers, and would stand on her toes to kiss his cheek.

Instead, she settled for, "Hey, Edward."


	3. The Definition of Okay

Thank you very much for reviews, everyone.  
We left off on Alice's first day back to school. Enter Jasper. *does a pirouette* I love him so much.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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**The Definition of "Okay"**

Forks High was just like any other high school. By lunch time that day, people were complaining about some of their teachers _already_ assigning homework. Some of the students began a countdown for the next summer to begin. And, of course, the gossip started. What would a high school be about gossip? Some of the whispers were regarding Alice's solemn attitude, Jessica Stanley's skimpy wardrobe, and Ben Cheney's growth spurt. He had grown from five-foot-seven to five-foot nine over the summer, and it was quite obvious that he'd been spending a lot more time in the gym. But the _real_ news was that Rosalie Hale was back after an unexplained hiatus during her senior year, and she was spotted exiting her car with a dark-haired, mystery guy. There was a rumor going around that she had married an older man and was forced to live on welfare with him in the slums.

Of course, no one really knew if that was true, but it didn't stop them from talking.

Truth or not, Rosalie now sat alone, near an eggshell-colored wall, in the least populated area of the lunch room. No one was bold enough to approach her because of the abrasive vibe she gave off. Even as the cafeteria began to buzz with students, people avoided the entire table as if there was a perception filter around her. People didn't talk to Rosalie Hale unless they had a _very_ meaningful purpose or unless they were foolish.

Emmett was that fool. He sauntered right up to the table and sat backwards in a chair beside her, ignoring the fact that she was obviously engrossed in her geography textbook. Rosalie looked up through her thick eyelashes to give him a cold stare, which would have probably turned any other boy's heart into stone. Too bad for Rosalie, Emmett's heart was twice the size of any normal boy's. He flashed one of his toothy, dimpled smiles, which would have melted any other girl's heart.

Too bad for Emmett, Rosalie's heart had already turned to stone.

"What do you want?" Her voice was dripping with irritation as the side of her mouth turned up into a scowl.

"I'm just doing you a favor," Emmett replied, confidently grinning at her. "Don't thank me or anything, though."

Rosalie glowered in disbelief at his bold and arrogant tongue; frustration set in her eyes. "Fuck off, Emmett. _Now_."

"Aw, don't be like that, Rosie. I'm sure you were just _hoping_ someone would to sit next to you. It can be pretty embarrassing sitting alone at lunch." Emmett placed a hand on her shoulder.

Bad move. She took him by the pinky finger, bending the digit at an odd angle. He hissed and pulled away before she could do any permanent damage. He still sat planted in his seat, however.

Rosalie's scowl wavered just briefly, amused at seeing his discomfort. "I'm not alone, I'm waiting on someone. And don't call me 'Rosie,' you ogre."

Emmett shook his throbbing hand. _Oh, but it hurt so good._

In the middle of their enthralling conversation, they were joined by another table guest. The tall, dark-haired mystery guy pulled out a chair to sit directly across from them. There was some scandalous gossip circulating about him, as well. He had either just been released from a juvenile detention center for dealing cocaine, or he was homosexual.

Mystery guy smirked at Rosalie's bothered expression, pulling his long sleeves further down his wrists.

"Dang, Rosalie-" Mystery guy drawled in a thick, southern accent. "-I leave you alone for five minutes, and you already started makin' friends?"

Rosalie's middle finger sprang up like the clown from a jack-in-the-box.

"Can't you see we're in the middle of a conversation?" Emmett asked, mustering his most menacing glare. "Get the hell outta here."

Jasper stared blankly across the table as he took his index fingers and poked it into his own cheeks, smiling. He was mimicking Emmett's dimples. "Those are adorable."

Rosalie's scowl completely disappeared when she began to laugh. "This is my cousin, Jasper."

"You have a cousin?" Emmett looked at her questioningly, as if the thought had never occurred to him before.

"What a stupid question- who doesn't have a cousin?" Rosalie shook her head, placing two, white ear buds into her ears and turned the volume up to the max on her mp3 player.

Emmett gave her a strange look before focusing across the table. Mystery guy- or Jasper –was still poking holes into his cheeks as he stared back at Emmett.

"Are you okay, man?" Emmett asked, raising his eyebrow.

Jasper put his hands down flat on the table. He mirrored Emmett's expression, raising an eyebrow. "Are _you_ okay?"

Emmett didn't know what to say. He'd practiced and perfected intimidating faces, and they were most effective. No one had ever dismissed his Emmett in such a blasé way before. No one, except for Bella, but she usually walked head-on into danger. No, Bella was just oblivious. This kid was…strange.

Jasper's bottom lip was pierced with a black, captive bead ring, which was being pushed back and forth by his tongue. The sleeves of his black hoodie were pulled down past his wrists where his thumbs broke through two tears in the cuffs. Loosely fitted skinny jeans hugged his legs, yet they possessed the appropriate amount of sag. Emmett soon noticed that the whites around Jasper's grey eyes were glossed over and pink. To the untrained eye, he might have simply appeared to be tired, but Emmett was no amateur.

Emmett finally asked him, "Are you _high?_"

"Outrageously," Jasper smiled. He leaned into Emmett after looking around to see if anyone was eavesdropping on their conversation. "You smoke?"

Jasper pinched his index finger and thumb together, bringing his hand to his lips.

Emmett couldn't fight another toothy grin from forming on his face. "Do I smoke? Do I- Does everyone have a cousin? I'm Emmet, man."

"I think we're gonna get along just fine, Emmett," Jasper smiled with his eyes half-lidded.

"How about you swing by my place after school? I got just what you need- for a small fee, of course."

Jasper nodded, agreeing. He reached over the table to yank of Rosalie's headphones out of her ear.

"Ouch! What?" Her forehead creased in the middle of her forehead, which was often a sign that she was about to reach her breaking point. Rosalie had a short, gasoline-soaked fuse, and everyone seemed to be playing with matches.

"We're going to Emmett's later," Jasper informed.

Rosalie could see Emmett smile from her peripheral. "And _why_ are we going to Shrek's swamp?"

"To get high…you in?"

Rosalie weighed the options for her afternoon activities. It was either tough it out with Emmett or go home to watch her grandmother entertain friends in a game of poker with loose change as the stakes.

"Whatever," she garbled just loud enough for them to hear her. She looked over to Emmet and wanted to wipe his stupid grin clean off his face right along with those dimples. "I thought I told you to fuck off."

Emmett's smile grew brighter, "Nope, pretty sure you said 'fuck me.'"

Rosalie placed her ear bud back into her ear.

While Emmett and Jasper discussed grams and prices, Edward searched the lunchroom for an empty table. Bella and Alice were by his side, but Alice's eyes were fixed on Jessica Stanley's table in the center of the floor. He snapped his fingers a few times in front of her eyes. With a few blinks, the steam cleared the room.

"What?" she asked, slightly embarrassed because she'd been caught drifting away again.

"What're you staring at?" Edward made an attempt to look in the direction that her eyes were previously fixated on, but Alice stopped him. She softly nudged him with her elbow, pointing in the direction of Emmett's table.

"Look, Em's right over there."

Alice went on ahead of them. Edward and Bella looked at each other. Bella shrugged her shoulders, hoping that Edward wouldn't dwell on it too much. He hesitated and cringed at the thought of joining the table once he saw Rosalie sitting there.

The girl was truly lethal. James Grabowski once walked over to her while she was in the school library and proceeded to whisper dirty nothings into her ear. She drew her size nine Converses back and planted them directly between his legs. The poor, perverted boy had to walk with a limp for weeks after that.

Edward fought the incessant urge to cover his crotch as he was forced to take the last seat across from Rosalie. Bella was to his immediate left, and next was Alice.

"See ya'll later on…gotta take a piss." The dark-haired boy pulled his hood over his head before pushing his chair back. Rosalie looked up for a brief moment, seeing Alice's breathing hitch when Jasper accidentally brushed against her shoulder as he left. Alice clenched her fists closed, while her nails dug into fresh wounds. She unclenched them with a quiet huff, and then reached down into her tote bag for a bottle of water. Rosalie quickly looked back down at the textbook before she was caught staring.

"He was charming," Bella muttered under her breath.

"Who's that kid?" Edward asked, looking on. "Everyone's talking about him."

"Sorry to break it to you, Bella. You're not the new kid anymore. That-" Emmett pointed a thumb behind him towards the cafeteria doors, "-was Rosalie's cousin. _I know! _I didn't know she had a cousin, either. By the way, we're going to my place after school."

Alice downed the rest of the water.

Emmett pantomimed the act of smoking, just as Jasper had done moments before. Edward huffed at his friend. Emmett had been trying to get Edward to smoke marijuana ever since the eighth grade. With Edward's father breathing down his neck now, he didn't see that ever happening-

"Could I come?" Bella asked.

At the sound of Bella's voice, Edward's ears perked up like a puppy when his owner's car pulled into the driveway. She felt his eyes burning holes into the side of her face; her skin turned a shade of pink.

"You smoke? Little Miss Bella isn't so innocent," Emmett smirked.

"I never claimed to be innocent," Bella shrugged. "It was four summers ago on the rez; me and my friend, Jacob, smoked pot with Sam and some other people for two months straight."

"You never told me that," Edward spoke softly, feeling an illogical sting of betrayal.

"It never came up…" Bella said, embarrassed. "…And I haven't even done it since."

"Wait, wait, wait…" Emmett waved his hands with each word, bringing the conversation back a few pegs. "I can't believe _you_ smoked with Jacob Black and Sam Uley. Was there like chanting and stuff?" Emmett asked.

Bella snorted, "Emmett, pretty sure, that's not PC."

"_Well, was there?_"

"Okay, one time, we all chanted, but that was because we got really, _really_ high and were being stupid."

Emmett laughed, obnoxiously. He was enjoying Edward's face as it morphed into different facial expressions. "Edward, she's definitely the best girlfriend you've ever had. She's definitely coming over."

xxxxxxx

Emmett lived every teenager's dream. His parents owned a three-story house surrounded by two acres of land. On those two acres was a pool and tennis court. His parents bought him everything his big heart desired including the red, Jeep Wrangler he was always seen hopping in and out of. Inside of his house was the real absurdity; lavish furniture filled all of the five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. There was an endless supply of food, which came in handy because of his healthy appetite. Money was always just a phone call away to mommy and daddy if he ever ran out. Yes, Emmett McCarty was living one amazing life.

"_Damn, Emmett!_" Jasper's voice echoed inside the foyer as he looked around. The group filed in the front door; inside seemed more like a lobby than the foyer of a house. The expensive tiled floors mirrored a crystal chandelier above their heads. "How much weed do you _sell?_"

Rosalie put her elbow on Jasper's shoulder, staring directly at Emmett with an amused leer. Emmett felt somewhat uncomfortable because he knew what she would say.

"You know those _really_ annoying sporting goods' commercials that come on late at night?" Rosalie asked.

Jasper rolled his eyes, reciting the commercial's slogan, "_McCarty's: We've got balls!"_

"That's the one, well…_he's_ a McCarty," she said, nodding her head to Emmett.

Jasper's eyes went wide, "Dude, you must be loaded."

Emmett shrugged, dropping his bag on the floor. He came from a long line of McCarty's, and a long line of wealth. "Old Money," everyone liked to say, but Emmett figured his great-grandfather got lucky in a business deal. A few generations, as well as a few thousand _McCarty Sporting Goods'_ locations later, the McCarty had more money than most people could ever fathom.

He was used to people being in awe of his wealth. It often got downright irritating, so Emmett decided to change the subject. "Are we gonna talk or are we gonna get this party started?"

Jasper beamed while following Emmett up the spiral stairs. Rosalie decided to walk down the corridor that led to the living room, noticing all of the family portraits- some had been painted by a very talented artist.

Edward tugged on Bella's arm to lead her upstairs, but she pulled away. "I'll be there in a minute." He melted at her sweet smile and jogged up the stairs, skipping two at a time. Bella waited until he was out of sight to speak with Alice, who had been wide-eyed, looking up at the stairs.

No one had noticed her as they all broke off into their own worlds, but she was leaning with her back against the front door. Her knuckles were white as she wrapped a rigid hand over the glass knob. Her other hand was throbbing from her fingernails cutting into more skin as she looked to the top of the stairs. That day marked the first time Alice had been back in Emmett's house since the party in June.

"Alice, you _have _to help me!"

Alice was brought out from her stupor at the sound of Bella's panicked voice. Alice tried to concentrate on the conversation, rather than the burning in her hand and the urge she felt to run.

"Edward asked me out on a date this weekend and I have no idea how to dress cute or appear even _slightly_ attractive for a date."

"Bella, my brother likes you no matter what you wear," Alice reassured her. It was true. Bella could wear a paper bag halter top and Edward would think it was hobo-Couture.

"But I really want to impress him on Saturday. Don't make me beg because I will."

Alice couldn't ignore Bella's pathetic puppy dog eyes and her hands clasped together below her chin as if she were praying to the fashion goddess for wardrobe assistance. Alice forced a smile, which felt more like a grimace, but it was enough to convince Bella.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I owe you big time!" Bella squealed and hugged Alice a little too tightly before there was a chance to protest. Alice couldn't remember the last time she'd let anyone hug her.

Bella turned on her heels and sprinted up the spiral stairs. At the top, she stumbled onto her hands and knees. Alice heard a faint, "I'm okay," as Bella disappeared into the darkness of the hallway.

Alice was all alone in the foyer now. She wanted to run, but her house was on the other side of town. He mouth was dry as the room became cold, and the steam was suffocating her again. It was just as real as her dreams had been. Her looming screams were so close to falling from her mouth like bile.

Suddenly, music began to blare, and she could breathe again. It was a good enough distraction for the steam to dispel and to regain some composure. She walked through the hall with her hand, clutching her chest. Following the noise, Alice found Rosalie sitting on a cream-colored, leather couch with her legs crossed under her.

Even with all of the luxurious furniture surrounding her, Rosalie was the most beautiful piece in the room. Her blonde tresses fell down her back in big curls. Her smooth, ivory skin had been kissed gently by the sun during the summer which brought out a shade of violet in her eyes. She sat directly in front of a flat screen that was playing a popular music video. She sensed another presence in the room and looked up to see Alice standing in the archway. Rosalie patted the cushion next to her. A hesitant Alice joined her on the couch. Rosalie turned the volume down with the remote and set it down beside her on the couch before silently taking Alice's palms.

Alice's palms were open and faced upwards, showing the crescent-shaped cuts. Some were so fresh that the blood there was still trying to clot. Rosalie opened her own palms and placed them upward onto Alice's hands. Alice looked down to see that Rosalie's palms showed faint, healed, crescent-shaped scars.

The two shared a long stare, unblinking and definite. It wasn't until they heard Jasper meowing from the archway that Alice pulled back her hands. He was standing there with Emmett while a small smoke cloud was billowing around their heads. Emmett was holding a joint between his fingers, laughing at Jasper's antics. It was clear to see that they were already becoming the best of friends.

"There is a rule in this house, Rosie: no lesbian activities unless I'm involved, mkay?" Emmett's vulgarity elicited a deep growl from Rosalie's throat. She chased him out of the room with her fists waving in the air. Jasper stared at Alice in a way that no one had before, and it made her want to throw something at him. Rosalie hadn't even made her feel this way, looking at her bloody hands, even when Alice realized that they'd shared the same truth.

Jasper scared her, and she couldn't explain why. He was too extreme, staring with those big, grey eyes as if he was searching her soul for something. He must have found it because he broke their trance, walking over to her.

He plopped down beside her, nearly causing Alice to fly up into the air as if they were on a trampoline.

The smell of marijuana and smoke was strong around him; Alice could feel herself becoming dizzy just being so close.

She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her body.

"You okay?"

_What a loaded question,_ Alice thought, looking back at him. She couldn't look directly into his eyes because they were too true, so she glanced at the ring in his lip. He kept tugging at the jewelry…almost nervously.

She shrugged, wrapping her arms tighter around herself. She could pull herself into a ball forever if she ever figured out how. "Define 'okay.'"

He nodded as if he knew all the things she couldn't say. "I'm Jasper, by the way."

"Alice."

"You're Edward's sister, right?"

She nodded, while his teeth pulled at his lip.

After a beat he said, "So there's this rumor that you think you're better than everyone else, or something."

"I don't think I'm better than anyone," Alice quickly spoke, sitting up straighter.

She noticed that he stopped wearing away at his lip long enough to let out a small half-smile. He was trying to get a rise out of her. Testing her.

_Pushing her?_

Alice pushed back, "I heard _you_ were looking for rough trade."

He laughed, surprising Alice a bit, "Touché."

Emmett called Jasper's name from upstairs.

"Comin' upstairs?"

She shook her head.

"You gonna be alright down here by yourself?"

She nodded.

"Liar," he said, smiling and standing up. As he walked away, he said, "I'll see you around, Miss Alice."

She watched him disappear through the archway, letting the steam flood the room.


	4. LRRHSCAS

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing.

twitter: monamumbles

**Previously**

_He nodded as if he knew all the things she couldn't say. "I'm Jasper, by the way."_

_"Alice."_

_"You're Edward's sister, right?"_

_She nodded, while his teeth pulled at his lip._

_After a beat he said, "So there's this rumor that you think you're better than everyone else, or something."_

_"I don't think I'm better than anyone," Alice quickly spoke, sitting up straighter._

_She noticed that he stopped wearing away at his lip long enough to let out a small half-smile. He was trying to get a rise out of her. Testing her._

_Pushing her?_

_Alice pushed back, "I heard you were looking for rough trade."_

_He laughed, surprising Alice a bit, "Touché."_

_Emmett called Jasper's name from upstairs._

_"Comin' upstairs?"_

_She shook her head._

_"You gonna be alright down here by yourself?"_

_She nodded._

_"Liar," he said, smiling and standing up. As he walked away, he said, "I'll see you around, Miss Alice."_

_She watched him disappear through the archway, letting the steam flood the room._

* * *

**Little Red Riding Hood Should've Carried a Shank**

_Steam from the hot water fogged Alice's reflection in the bathroom mirror above the sink. She swiped her hand across the glass until there was a clearer image of herself showing through. The steam immediately returned, blurring the mirror completely. She frowned. Just for a moment, she looked down to shut off the faucet. The mirror was no longer blurred; yet _he_ was there now behind her. Cerulean eyes caught her gaze, trapping her with an unseen and powerful force. In an instant, his hands were all over her. She felt his shaggy, flaxen hair sweep against her temple. She felt the biting and the groping. She smelled the alcohol mixing with the desire and fear in the room. She heard the vulgar words in her ears._

_Her mouth fell open to plead with him, as it always did. But this time, as his hand enclosed her throat, a faint meowing sound was heard from the other side of the door._

xxxxxxx

There was a detailed plan that Alice wanted to abide by in order to survive her junior year of high school. That plan, however, had been ripped to shreds once she caught sight of her nightmare seated comfortably in one of her classes. Her fingernails painfully found their way into the grooves in her palm, but he did not disappear as he usually did at the end of a dream.

It was easy after the party to avoid him because, for the rest of the summer, Alice had been socially detached. She'd been left with him in her nightmares, but that was easier to manage because when she woke up, he would vanish faster than the cold sweat. In the days before school began, her stomach would flip as if she were on a rollercoaster whenever the thought of seeing him in the halls flashed into her mind. The first day, her suspicions proved right when she arrived to one of her elective classes and saw his blonde hair from the doorway of the classroom. Immediately, she went to see Mrs. Cope in the office about switching courses. It was over with a few taps on the keyboard and she was switched to _History of Pop Culture_.

He was in her lunch block, as well; she'd been caught staring at him in the middle of the lunch room as he goofed off with his friends. Everyone laughed at his jokes, but it didn't seem fair that he could smile so easily when Alice barely could keep from screaming at night.

Mrs. Cope had a harder time switching her out of the lunch period because that would mean rearranging her entire schedule. It was easier if Alice simply tried to distract herself. On the second day, she brought her sketchpad along.

It kept her mind focused on something other than her own troubles for a while. It was only been twenty minutes into the lunch period when she found herself putting the final touches on a caricature of Emmett and Rosalie sitting next to each other just as they were the day before. Emmett was depicted as the wolf from Tex Avery's cartoon, _Red Hot Riding Hood_. Instead of the cheesy suit, the wolf was clad in Emmett's outfit: blue jeans and a Forks High School, Spartans sweatshirt. His eyes hungrily ogled her as his mouth salivated. Rosalie, who was reading a novel, wore a short, strapless cocktail dress. A tranquilizer gun was tucked indiscreetly between the pages.

A masculine laugh brought Alice out of her reverie. She was so absorbed in the drawing that she hadn't even noticed when Jasper took a seat beside her. He wore black again, and she immediately realized that it was going to be a 'thing' for him. He didn't appear to be looking for attention like the kids from the drama department, nor did he look as though he was about to call upon the forces of darkness like some of the Goth kids. Jasper looked natural in all black, simply being Jasper.

He'd been more alert than yesterday afternoon; the whites around his eyes were a bit clearer albeit they were still too true, and Alice couldn't hold the contact for too long.

"Is that really how you see them? In your head, I mean." Jasper was still smiling as he looked more closely at all of the details in the drawing.

Alice nodded, trying to ignore how close his inspection had brought him to her. "Pretty much."

"Maybe you should do some self portraits. I'd love to know how you see yourself."

Alice finally looked up into his boundless gaze, and she hated him. She hated him for giving her a simple glance that touched her toes and came up to warm her stomach in crashing waves.

"You're doing it again," she alleged, looking at anything and everything but his eyes.

Jasper raised an eyebrow, oblivious to himself. "Doing what?"

"Saying weird stuff."

He laughed, "Emmett keeps callin' me weird, too."

Looking around the table, his smile was still prevalent, yet faltered when his eyes met with Rosalie's at the end of the table. She was boring holes into the side of his face with a look that said, _be cautious_. Jasper smiled as reassuringly as possible.

On the other end of the table, Bella was folding another piece of notebook paper into a triangle shape so that Emmett and Edward could play a game of paper football. The were sitting on Rosalie's end, but Edward's last attempt at making it between Emmett's _goal posts _went astray, and the paper landed in Rosalie's hair. She looked up at him with no expression, yet there was a violet fire in her eyes. She plucked the paper out of her hair and put it into her bra before looking back down at her book. Emmett, Bella, and Edward shuffled to the other end of the table.

"I owe you an apology for yesterday," Jasper began again. "You shouldn't have first met me when I was stoned. Just something I did because I was nervous 'bout bein' at a new school."

Alice shrugged for lack of anything better to say; she didn't feel that he owed her anything.

"I would've stayed with you downstairs if I wasn't high, you know?"

"Why?"

"To make sure you were okay. Felt like you were gonna bolt and I didn't want you to leave."

Their eyes locked in a brilliant union. The warmth in her belly soared higher, reaching her heart and threatened to touch her face.

"I'll see you later." Jasper walked away just moments before the bell rang, dismissing that lunch period.

Everyone stood up to throw away half-eaten foods and grab their books. As Alice was gathering her things, she felt a tug on her sleeve. She couldn't hide her surprise when she saw Rosalie standing there.

"Hey," Rosalie greeted, "everyone's, most likely, heading to Emmett's again a little later. Do you want to hang out there?"

"Uh, s-sure? I don't mind, Rosalie."

"Awesome, I'll see you then."

Alice nodded. Rosalie walked towards the cafeteria doors with a rare smile gracing her face. Her last class of the day was Senior English. She strolled into Mr. Berty's room, checking for the empty seat by the window. Mr. Berty was a little, old man with a passion for literature, and she loved being in his class. Again, no one took the empty seat next to her, so she used the space as a spot to put her belongings. Just as the bell sounded, Mr. Berty began handing out _The Great Gatsby_ novels.

Berty cleared his throat, "Today we're going to be reading—"

A pounding sound on the classroom door interrupted his steady voice. Rosalie groaned when Emmett dragged his feet through the door, startling Mr. Berty a little.

"…_supposed to be in this class,"_ was all she could hear Emmett mutter under his breath. Her eyes went wide as he and old Berty looked around the room to find an empty desk.

_Shit! _Rosalie screamed inside of her head, just as Emmett walked over and sat down beside her.

"Don't talk to me, don't touch me, and don't look at me." She listed off her demands without looking in his direction. She had expected him to break all of those rules in the short moments that followed, but to her surprise, he stayed silent. She anticipated a rude, sexual comment about her breasts or maybe he'd _accidentally _brush thighs with her under the desk, but he hadn't made a single move. She looked at him and saw that he appeared to be…_bothered_.

"Leave me alone, Rosalie," Emmett responded, dejectedly. It was one of the very few times he used her full name in conversation. He looked down at the book as if its pages were laden with anthrax.

"Now, if you would all turn to chapter one in your books. Sorry, Emmett. I haven't got a book for you as yet, but you can share with Rosalie until tomorrow," Old Berty informed them as he perched his broad glasses down on the edge of his nose. "Oh, and why don't you start us off with the first few pages?"

Color rushed to Emmett's face; he tried to swallow, but there was no moisture left in his mouth. Rosalie flipped through the pages and shoved it into his chest. He didn't even make a snide comment towards her. Instead, he swallowed roughly and looked at the page.

"Um…you said chapter one, right?" Emmett asked.

"Yes, chapter one."

"Okay, uh…'In m-my yuh…-"

"Younger," Berty assisted.

"'In my younger and…more loveable—"

"That's _vulnerable_, Emmett."

Someone in the back row snickered. Rosalie turned around to search for the offending face and saw James Grabowski with a hand over his mouth. Even her stone heart could feel the pain that Emmett must have been suffering through. She could have sworn she felt the vibrations of his heart beating on the desktop.

Emmett tried again, but his voice cracked this time just as the words fell from his mouth. "'In my y-younger and more vulnerable…"

Rosalie could not bear to watch or hear James snicker anymore or feel Emmett's heartbeat. She grabbed the book from his bear claw grasp and shouted, "Popcorn! 'In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since."

"Splendid idea!" Berty exclaimed. "Let's all take turns reading; after a few paragraphs, simply say the word 'popcorn', and someone else will pick up from there. Miss Hale, would you continue?"

Rosalie continued reading aloud while Emmett stared at her for the first time without the abundant presence of lust. The whole class period carried on without anymore distractions. When the bell rang, Emmett was the first one to escape through of the door, as if someone were chasing him. And Rosalie had been. She followed right after, catching up with him at his locker.

"Emmett, it's okay if you have a little trouble reading. A lot of people do—"

Rosalie was startled as he slammed his locker door shut, making her jump back a step. The door just barely missed the tip of her nose.

"Rosalie, don't try to make me feel like that shit is normal. I'm not smart, and I don't read all that well. Call it what it is."

Without another word, he stormed off.

xxxxxxx

The boys were not planning on getting high today. Instead, they were going to let their minds rot, playing video games for hours. First, it was _Halo 3_, and then maybe they would switch to something classic like _Donkey Kong_. There was constant yelling as if they were in a wrestling arena.

Rosalie thought about leaving Emmett's house after the third, _Ohhh! You got jacked, bitch! _But it would be right to leave Alice alone to fend for herself with three guerillas upstairs. (Bella managed to pry herself away from Edward long enough to deal with family matters.) Plus, Rose figured if she had to be staying in paradise for a few hours after school, she would have to make the best of it.

Emmett's kitchen was stocked with everything on the food pyramid. Rosalie had not eaten anything since the night before, so she helped herself to what the McCarty's had to offer. Alice wandered silently into the kitchen. Rosalie motioned for her to join her in the vast space. Alice hopped onto the counter just as Rosalie took out a Tupperware container with lasagna inside.

"Want some?"

Rosalie caught Alice eyeing the food as she cut a large slice out and put it onto a dinner plate. Alice shook her head in refusal.

"Starving yourself won't make it go away, you know. I've tried that."

"I know that," Alice quickly, realizing what she'd revealed. "I'm not starving myself. I'm just not hungry all that often."

Rosalie shrugged, dropping the subject altogether. "So what has the school been saying about me?"

"Nothing," Alice lied. It was quite the contrary; everyone had things to say about Rosalie Hale's absence with that _handsome, older guy_. Each story was more vulgar than the one before.

"Oh, come on, Alice. I'm not dense. I know everyone has been whispering behind my back. It's high school."

"Well," Alice began, cautiously, "Jessica Stanley started a rumor that you were prostituting in Vegas."

Rosalie snorted a laugh. "Jessica Stanley is full of shit."

Another round of boisterous cheers came from upstairs. Rosalie rolled her eyes to the sky.

"I want to tell my story, Alice. For once. Can I trust you with that?"

"You don't have to tell me anything-"

Rosalie put up a hand, "I think it's necessary…for both of us. Can I trust you?"

Alice nodded before folding her legs under butt on the counter.

"You know my dad was a criminal layer in Port Angeles, right? Well, after I got my license, my dad let me use his car. I would drive him to and from the courthouse or other random places. It became a routine over the summer that I was _definitely_ growing tired of- fast. What teenager wants to be their dad's chauffeur? Eventually, when the school year came around, he purchased me my dream car."

Rosalie, of course, was talking about her '97, cherry-red BMW.

"The only condition that he had was that I work to help pay for the insurance and gas. I immediately got a job at the _Thrifty Mart_ as a cashier. The first day that I got my paycheck was the last day that I officially stopped driving my dad around. That same afternoon, I drove to a bank in Port Angeles to open an account. That's where I met Royce King II.

"What a pretentious-fucking-name. He was this good-looking older guy in his late twenties, and he jumped at the chance to help me. He openly flirted with me at his desk and constantly told me that I was the most beautiful girl he had met. Guys have this secret fetish for blondes or something, and I was pretty used to hearing that from the idiots at school, but it felt absolutely wonderful coming from him. At the end of the whole account process, I gave him my cell number. For weeks we talked on the phone, learning about each other. His father owned the bank and his family lived very comfortably. He seemed like such a sweetheart, and I couldn't resist going out with him. I would sneak out late at night just to be with him and every night when we got back to my house, he would tell me I was _beautiful_ before leaning in to kiss me goodnight. God, I hate that word now.

"Royce was separated from his wife at the time and living in an apartment by himself. He would tell me that he and his wife were going to divorce soon so we could start a family of our own. He knew I came from a wealthy family so he promised me the same life with him and greater. I believed him. I don't know why, but everything inside me said to go with this man. One afternoon, I told my parents that Royce would be my husband someday and they couldn't tell me any different. Packed most of my things and moved in with Royce shortly after. By then I was eighteen, all ready to make big-girl decisions.

"Everything was perfect in the beginning. I had no need to work or go to school so I stopped doing both. Royce took care of all my needs. After a while, things started to change. I quickly realized that the sweetheart thing was all a façade. Besides him always commenting about how I looked, we didn't really talk a lot. With him being older than me, our worlds were just too far apart. I stayed, however. Looking back, I think I stayed to prove my family wrong. To tell them that I _could_ be a big girl.

"During the months that followed, Royce started to drink more heavily. On Fridays, when he got off work, him and his buddies went to the bar and got drunk off their asses. They would come back to the apartment and make noise for hours, while I stayed in our bedroom, trying to sleep. It would usually take place every Friday night for months. I always stayed in the bedroom until they were finished. To be grown men, they were obnoxious little fuckers.

"By now I was missing my home so much that I threatened to leave if he didn't change his ways. Naturally, he promised me that he would. The next Friday, he hadn't come home until it was about two in the morning. I tried to block their noise out like usual, but it wasn't working, and I was so goddamned fed up. I took matters into my own hands by storming into the living room. It was like I entered a lion's den; they were all plastered. He was trying to show me off like I was some trophy.

"'C'mon, baby,' Royce said to me. 'Let 'em see how beautiful you are.' I could smell the liquor swirling in the air like some dark omen, you know? Just felt like something was going to go wrong."

Rosalie laughed darkly recalling events. "The boys were yelling like a bunch of animals at the zoo. Then one of them groped my ass, and I slapped the shit out of him, but he just pulled me into his lap for a kiss, and that's when the night just turned completely to shit. They were all cheering—even Royce. And when I called out to him for help- I mean, I was _screaming_ at the top of my lungs -just to do anything- I watched in slow motion as he stood up from his seat and held my arms down while he watched.

"I don't quite remember what exactly happened after that. Fragments come back to me in dreams and things like that." Rosalie unconsciously alluded to the scars on her palms as she wiped them across her faded, blue jeans.

"I must've blacked out or maybe knocked out because when I came to, I was alone on the living room floor. I called out for someone, but it was completely silent. I just remember everything hurting. I crawled to the bedroom and put on a tee-shirt and a pair of jeans before leaving the apartment. I drove back to Forks when the sun was supposed to be coming through the clouds, but it was just another cloudy morning here, of course. I parked in front of my family's house, wanting nothing more than to cry in my mama's arms and tell my daddy I was sorry and play video games with my little brothers, but they were all gone. The house was empty, and there was a 'FOR SALE' on the lawn. I collapsed under the sign and didn't wake up until the next day in the hospital.

"That's how I found out that your dad saved my life. He told me that he was driving to work and found me still on my parent's lawn, passed out from exhaustion. He'd taken me to the hospital and stayed long enough for my grandmother to get there, even though it made him a few hours late for his own job. The doctor came in after he left, but I simply refused to say anything to them. I refused their help beyond any necessary treatment, so they were left powerless. They didn't push me, but what they had told me was that they treated me for a sprained wrist and…more… like, internal injuries? I was damaged so badly that I probably will never have children. That's what kills me. Those bastards took everything away from me: my family and my future.

"I don't know where my family went and I don't have any way to contact them. I broke my dad's heart when I left the house so he decided to break mine, I guess. He knows where _I _am, but he won't call me. He won't see me. The only family I have left is Gram and Jasper."

Alice felt the weight of despair slowly rolling off Rosalie and pressing against her chest where the warmth once dwelled. There were so many questions she wanted to know the answers to, but only asked, "What happened to Royce?"

Rosalie chuckled under her breath again without any trace of humor. "Remember I told you that he was separated from his wife? Well, it was because she actually put out a restraining order against him for abusing her throughout the course of their marriage. He violated the restraining order one night when he was drunk and was begging for her to take him back. She refused, and he attacked her. He's now spending time in jail for it. You would think that would give me some peace of mind, but it doesn't. I see him everywhere, like he's watching me. I hear their laughs and their touch on my skin, even when I'm wrapped up with the covers so tight it almost suffocates me.

"I'm not saying all of this to scare you or anything. I just want you to know that this is my story, and I'm telling it. I'd like to think it gives _them_ a little less power over me. Don't be ashamed to have some scars, Alice. Everyone has them."

Alice mulled her words over, knowing Rosalie didn't only mean the scars on the surface, but the scars that would never heal, no matter how much time passed.

"You know, you should check out Jazz's tattoo," Rosalie said, matter-of-factly.

"I didn't know he had any," Alice said.

She was confused at Rosalie's sudden switch to her cousin's tattoo. What did he have to do with any of this and why did Rosalie think Alice cared?

"Yeah, well, he keeps them all covered up." Rosalie took the lasagna out of the microwave. "I'm not saying shout it from the roof of the school, but I'm always here if you want to talk. _Whenever_, you want to talk." The boys shouted, thunderously. "And please try to eat something."

Rosalie left the kitchen, sashaying with a confidence. Alice now understood that her confidence was all a show. That arrogant walk was a bond that held her shattered soul together. One small slip of her posture could send it all tumbling down and there would be no one to pick up her pieces.


	5. Talking to Boys

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing.

twitter: monamumbles

* * *

**Talking to Boys**

Jessica Stanley was going to die. Everyone around her became aware of that fact the moment Rosalie stepped foot onto the school parking lot. Classes let out at noon that Friday, so everyone poured out of the doors, practically stampeding their ways to their cars, buses, and bikes. Somehow, there was a rumor going around that Rosalie and Alice were becoming a little more than friends after everyone saw them pile into the red BMW.

Rosalie became like a Barbie Terminator, zoning in on her target. Everyone around Jessica looked over her tall, feral hair and grew rigid at the sight of Rose's military march. Jessica was unaware of her fate because she was busy gossiping with her back towards the crowd. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned only to have her face greeted with a fist. Jessica fell backwards onto her butt, groaning and looking up to find Rosalie crouched over her. A chorus of gasps, laughs, and jeers sounded through the crowd.

"The next time I hear my name come out of your mouth, it'll be on your last breath. That goes for my friends, too. Do we understand each other?" Rosalie politely and patiently waited for Jessica to nod her head. It took her a while to muster the strength and push through the throbbing pain in her jaw. "Good, now get the hell out of my face."

Without hesitation, Jessica and her frizzy hair scurried across the lot.

xxxxxxx

After the parking lot fiasco, Bella and Alice took the hour drive to Port Angeles. Alice always felt comfortable with Bella around because she did not feel the need to fill the silence with useless blabber, and they could easily relax around each other. Bella knew how it felt to have an unwanted spotlight the year before when she was the new girl at school and everyone was staring at her like a monkey in a glass cage. Bella was one of the few that had not pried into Alice's life after noticing the change.

They drove around town and found a little boutique that sold designer dresses. A loud man wearing vibrant colors practically assaulted Bella at the door. He told her that her frayed jeans and button down had to be "burned and buried"_. _He pulled her to the side where he darted to a section of the store that seemed to be designated for street walkers. He took a handful of clothes, pushed her into an empty dressing room, and threw the outfit in right after.

"Now, don't come out until you've gotten out of those grotesque clothes." His tiny bottom swayed towards the next victim.

Alice sighed and sat outside of the dressing room on a leopard print bench. She briefly wondered what Bella was doing in there to cause so much noise. There was a stream of fumbling, swears, grunts, and ouches.

"Are you building a road in there, Bella?" Alice asked the closed dressing room door.

Bella used her upper body strength to pull herself to the top of the door. Her head popped up while her fingers were perched on either sides of her chin. "I'm building the confidence to come out of here like this," she said. In true Bella fashion, her arms quivered and she tumbled to the ground with a thud. "_Ouch!"_

Alice gasped in horror along with some other people who had heard the commotion. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Got a little rug burn where it doesn't belong, but I'm okay."

The fumbling started again.

At another corner of the shop, Angela Weber was trying on different bracelets when she caught sight of Alice sitting near the dressing rooms. Angela bit her lip, thinking of what to do. Would it be best if she just kept giving Alice her needed space like a good friend would? _Ah, forget that_, Angela thought. She was done giving space. They were too far apart now.

Angela walked gracefully toward the dressing rooms. The flamboyant salesman was eyeing her slender, five-foot-eight body, from afar, thinking of all the outfits in the store that she would look great in. She could've been a model if it weren't for her father being so against the idea. Mr. Weber had no problem with women modeling, but he knew that Angela wouldn't be living up to her full potential if she became one. She lifted an eyebrow at the gaudy bench before sitting.

"Hey," Angela said first as she nudged Alice gently with her shoulders.

Alice was briefly alarmed that someone that someone was calling her, but she quickly relaxed when she realized who it was.

"Hey," Alice repeated, nudging back.

The two stared for a while until Angela lunged forward to embrace her friend in a tight hug. They pulled apart, Angela being the only one still truly smiling.

"I miss you, Al," Angela admitted for the first time in months. "We used to hang out all the time and now we barely say hi to each other in passing."

Alice closed her eyes, taking a very deep breath. She was about to start a speech that been recited so many times before. "I know, it's just that-"

"Alice, we've known each other since the first grade. I can tell when you're about to lie to someone because you start the sentence with your eyes closed. I'd rather you not tell me than you tell me half-truths. We don't have to talk about anything you don't want to. Let's just…hang out."

Alice's mouth gaped while her eyes glanced from left to right. "I do _not_ close my eyes when I lie!"

Angela laughed. "Yeah, you do. I've known for quite a while actually. The first time I noticed was when you told Edward you didn't cut his favorite jeans to turn them in into daisy dukes."

The two joined in a loud laugh. For the first time in a long time, Alice didn't have to force the humor. This time, it did reach her eyes and it hurt to smile. It was locked away for so long that she'd surprised herself. It came out loud and long. So much so that Angela didn't want to ruin the moment by saying that she thought Alice had been lying about that night, as well. So much so that the other customers looked at Alice as if she'd just escaped from a mental institution. So much so that it hurt her belly. And like two high school girls, Alice and Angela began to laugh at nothing and everything.

A voice tethered them briefly to the store. "Alice, I don't know about this…" Bella's voice trailed off as she stepped out of the dressing room wearing a hideous sequined tank top with fur around the top and gold, metallic tights. Bella looked from Angela to Alice. The two stared back blankly until all three of them doubled over with laughter.

It felt great to lose their minds for a bit, but all joking aside, Bella quickly decided on something simple with Alice's reassurance that her brother would love it. She excused herself from the group to get ready for her big date. Her nerves set in as they always did when she was anticipating the worst-case scenario. There was a long list of things that could go wrong tonight; Bella was going through every one of them in her head.

_What if I get soap in my eyes while I'm washing my hair?_

_My dress could rip when I'm trying to slip into it._

_Tripping down the stairs-_

_Jeez, Bella, get a grip!_

She tried her best to push aside all negative thoughts and feelings. She also tried to follow Alice's instructions on how to put on her makeup and style her hair. _Just curl the ends enough to leave it with some bounce; _Alice's text came through over Bella's touch phone. Bella had done well. She only burned her thumb once and her ears a few times. No permanent scars. _And don't put on too much makeup. Edward hates girls who cake it on. And for the love of God, DO NOT USE ANYTHING WITH GLITTER!_

Just as Bella was done putting on her makeup and curling her hair just as Alice had instructed her so it would appear subtle, the doorbell rang. Bella stared at herself with her eyes wide when she heard the door slowly opening. She unplugged the curling iron and raced down the stairs to find her dad, Charlie, talking to Edward in the doorway. As if it were a cane, Charlie rested some of his weight on his shotgun.

"Dad," Bella groaned from behind them.

"Hey, Bells," Charlie said with his chest still puffed out. Edward was looking nervously at the shotgun. "I was just having some man talk with Edward here."

Bella rolled her eyes. "We won't be back too late."

"Oh, I know that." Charlie nodded his head, spinning the shotgun as if he were spinning a _dreidel_.

"C'mon, Edward." Bella linked arms with Edward and pulled him outside.

When they got into Edward's car, they realized Charlie hadn't moved from his spot in the doorway. Bella knew that her father probably wouldn't go inside until the car was out of sight, so she instructed Edward to drive away. The whites of Edward's knuckles were exposed as he tensely gripped the steering wheel. Bella reached out, touching his shoulder and reassuring him that he could relax. With all the anticipation of the night, she overlooked the possibility of _him_ being nervous. Strangely enough, this thought calmed her. He let of a breath of air that he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Your dad is very intimidating," he finally said, his eyes trained on the road ahead.

Bella giggled, raising a suspicious eyebrow. "Charlie is anything but intimidating, Edward. That's probably the most action he's had with that gun in years."

"But it's like I knew what he was thinking. He was smiling at me when we talked, but his eyes were screaming something else." Edward lowered his voice so it sounded a bit gruffer. Like Charlie's. "'If you lay one finger on her, I'll murder you in your sleep.'"

Bella let out a laugh at the imitation. At the sound of her, he joined in. All of the nervous tension they were mutually sharing was left somewhere down the road. They soon relaxed and acted as though they were back in class, rather than on their first date.

The drive to _Mimi's Diner _wasn't long at all. In fact, they probably could've walked if it wasn't misting out. Edward parked outside and escorted his date inside of the diner. They were seated without much of a wait due to the fact that not many people would spend their Friday nights inside of Forks. Most of the younger kids went off to the bigger surrounding cities for more fun. Edward and Bella sat in the corner of the restaurant at a booth while elderly couples were scattered about. The diner was an old, log cabin complete with aged knick knacks nailed along the walls. It smelled of rich foods and burning wood and cedar that gave off a very cozy and familiar feeling.

"You look beautiful," Edward said in a breathy tone.

Bella felt her face flush at his words; her heartbeat faltered as his striking green eyes stared back at her brown. She wore a sleeveless, cream-colored, chiffon dress that stopped mid-thigh. (Alice even persuaded Bella into wearing flats instead of her converses which was a _very_ difficult struggle.)

"Thank you, Edward."

He was dressed casually with black-and-white, plaid shirt and black pants. (Alice threw in a grey hoodie that apparently _had him written all over it_.)

"How is your mother?" His question caught her off guard a bit. She looked up from picking at her cuticles.

"She's…better. Thank goodness she has a guy like Phil, you know? Other than my dad, he's one of the greatest guys I know. He makes sure she gets her medicine and is always there."

"Has it been as bad as last spring?"

Bella shyly shook her head. "No, it's been fine since then."

Bella's mother, Renee, came to visit Bella earlier that year. It was the first time that she had been back to Forks since separating from Charlie. Renee was only staying for a week while her new husband, Phil, stayed in Florida due to his obligations as a coach to a peewee baseball team. Renee hated being back in town and having to stay with Charlie because it brought back all the memories of being _suffocated_ in the small town. It was one of the very few times that Charlie actually raised his voice in anger. He and Renee fought one Wednesday morning as Bella was leaving for school. She remembered too well. Partly because that was supposed to be the day that she and Edward were going to be working on a project together. He followed the faded pick-up truck back to her house. When they got out of the car, the front door was wide open and her mother's clothes were strewn across the lawn.

Bella and Edward cautiously walked into the house. They heard someone whimpering in the kitchen and went to find Renee crouched in one corner, naked, as she rocked back and forth, humming a Johnny Cash song. Bella called out for her mother in a panicked tone at the same time that she knelt to touch her mother's shoulder. Renee screamed, _'You are not my daughter,'_ before slapping Bella's face with all of her strength. They fought to put a robe on her mother and rush her to the hospital for the appropriate treatment Renee later admitted to not filling her prescription for her bipolar medication. After that episode, Bella spent the summer with her mother and Phil.

"Alice seems to be getting better too." Bella recalled the afternoon she spent with the girls. "She laughed today."

He raised his eyebrows high enough to touch his hairline. "She _laughed_?"

"Yeah like throw-your-head-back-and-laugh-until-your-body-hurts type of laugh."

Edward smiled so wide that the sides of his eyes crinkled. It was the best news he'd heard all day. "I'm still trying to figure out why she'd take drugs. She usually doesn't keep too many secrets from me. I keep asking her how she is and all I get is a rigid, _I'm fine._ She's obviously not and I'm tired of the answer."

"Maybe she's tired of the question," Bella countered.

The waiter came to deliver their drinks and to announce that their food would be with them in a short while.

She changed the subject. "Thank you for not taking me somewhere too fancy or anything like you-know-who." Bella faked a gag. "He took me to a French restaurant, miles away from here where it cost fifty bucks for a sliver of chicken. I mean, we're in high school, for crying out loud. I would've been happy at Chuck E. Cheese's."

He chuckled. "I knew that it really wouldn't impress you. What did you see in James anyway?"

"Not much. You were with that other girl when I moved to Forks and James asked me out. I was always so jealous of her. I thought if maybe James asked me out that you would be jealous too. That sounds really stupid, doesn't it? Tanya would always brag about you guys being with each other. You know, like _with _each other."

"I was never _with_ Tanya," Edward spat through clenched teeth.

"Oh," Bella said simply. "So you and her never…"

Edward shook his head, no.

"With _anyone_?"

Again, he shook his head; color made its way to his face. He looked very much ashamed of his confession.

Bella shrugged one shoulder, nonchalantly. "Neither have I."

Another waiter swiftly set two plates in front of their faces.

xxxxxxx

Edward made it back home around midnight. He was whistling an annoying tune all the way up to his room. Alice was in a bizarrely dreamless sleep when she was awoken from the pure stillness in the room. Everyone else in her house was asleep at this point. An alert from her phone went off that she recognized to be a text, but the number was foreign to her. It wasn't even a Washington area code.

_What colors would u sketch me in? _The unknown number asked. What an impossibly arbitrary question. Who did she know with an impossibly arbitrary personality?

_Jasper?_

_I guess red will do._

Her heart smiled at the words, but it was still pretty strange to hear from so late at night. Though, she was sure that Jasper never had normal days. She text back, _How did you get my number?_

_I bugged Rose till she gave it to me._

_Where are you?_

_Outside. Let down your hair, Rapunzel?_

Without thinking, Alice looked into the darkness of her room. She felt as though he was looking inside of her bedroom window. She leapt out the bed; her feet took a while to get used to the cold of the wood floors against her feet. She crept past her parents' room to quietly skulk down the long, curved staircase with Sid in tow. The dark woods showed no movement through the glass of the backdoor's window; her nose pressed against it, looking at each direction. She grabbed the Maglite flashlight out of the kitchen draw before easing out of the backdoor. The grass was still a bit wet from the misting earlier. She shone the light into the trees. A whistle sounded off to her left. Sid growled low, but Alice pat the top of his head and scratched behind his ear to calm him.

"It's okay, Sid- good boy," Alice cooed as she searched the darkness with the flashlight. The light became her guide as it shone in the direction of the whistling.

Jasper was walking up, squinting with his hand in front of his eyes. "Seriously, Alice?"

"Sorry, I'll turn it off." With one click, the light was off and it took a while to get adjusted to the darkness. Sid began sniffing Jasper's pant leg. "Do you mind? He's really friendly."

"Naw, it's okay," he said, bending on one knee to scratch behind both of Sid's ears. Sid panted hard, sticking his tongue out of his head. "What's his name?"

"Sid."

"_Sid?_"

Alice could see his raised eyebrow under the glow of the moon.

"His real name is John Simon Ritchie, but I only save that for when he poops under my bed."

Jasper laughed, letting Sid lick his neck. "Sid Vicious. It's perfect." He rose to his feet. "Bet you're probably wonderin' what the hell I'm doin' here at one in the mornin'."

"_Naturally._"

"I got a little bored so I looked the address up in the phone book. By the way, you know ya'll are the only Cullens in Washington? Anway, I kinda took a chance that you'd be up."

"Do you always do things at random?"

"Not always," he shrugged. "So hangin' out in your room or-"

"No," she said quickly, watching the smirk on his face fade.

For some reason, she felt impossibly comfortable around Jasper. She couldn't explain it, especially after barely knowing him for three days. But there was still a part of her that was screaming inside louder than the nightmares made her scream. Another part of her couldn't bring herself to make him leave, even as the screaming made her tremble.

"You nervous?" Jasper asked, carefully, noticing the shiver running through her.

"I'm just…not used to sneaking boys into the house during the middle of the night," she confessed. She felt Sid's tail wag his tail against her legs, and the trembling screams immediately stopped. She smiled down at the dog, taking his contact as a way to put her at ease. Alice could handle being alone with Jasper with her guard dog by her side. Sid could truly be vicious if need be. The more dominant part answered. "Follow me."

Turning around to walk back inside the house, Alice paused to see if anyone was awake. With the coast clear, she led him past the staircase to large sliding doors. She pulled the doors apart just enough for their bodies to fit through. The doors opened, revealing a den room. It was a small room with comfy, outdated furniture. Alice and Edward often used it as a game room, theater, or a quiet place to do their homework.

Alice turned on the dimmer just enough so that they could both see each other. She sat in the beat-up, floral recliner that was pretty much claimed as hers over the years. She curled her body inside; the cushions easily conformed to her body.

"What movies you have down here?" He scanned the DVDs that were displayed under their flat screen television.

"Most of them are Edward's games and stuff."

"Are these in alphabetical order?"

"Like I said before, most of them are Edward's."

"Ah, here we go: _The Princess Bride_." Jasper put in the movie and sat near her on the sectional. With an inquisitive face, he leaned forward. "I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?" He took her by the hand and mocked an inspection; he slowly counted her digits. Her stomach was swarming with ten thousand butterflies as she smelled his natural scent. Alice quickly caught herself. As though offended, she pulled her hand out of his grasp.

"Do you always begin conversations this way?"

"Ah, a woman who enjoys the classics. It's almost…_inconceivable_ nowadays."

Sid jumped onto the couch beside him, sniffing Jasper's clothes.

"Sid, get down!"

"It's fine, really." Jasper chuckled, petting him. The chain around Sid's neck rattled as the two played. So much for her guard dog. "He probably smells my cat on me."

"You have a cat?"

"I got her a few days ago. I keep meowin' at her, hopin' she'd meow back, but she just ignores me. Either I need to work on my meows or she's sick."

"You should have my dad take a look at her. He's a vet."

"Any other animals lurkin' around here I need to worry about?"

"Edward has Edgar and William, a ball python and an iguana. You should probably watch out for Edgar, but William's just as sneaky." Alice looked on the ground, searching for the snake or iguana, but the coast had been clear of them, too.

"Edgar and William?"

"Edgar Allan Poe and William Shakespeare."

"And everyone keeps callin' _me_ the weird one?" Jasper laughed. Sid finally settled down, resting his head in Jasper's lap.

The credits rolled for the movie to begin. Throughout the first half, Jasper and Alice recited well-known lines to each other, laughing. Throughout the second half, Alice slipped slowly into her chair, yawning. Before the ending, her eyes finally closed and she was still. Jasper turned off the television and prepared to leave when he saw her coiled up and clenching her fists together. She was making whimpering noises while her face was contorted in displeasure. Jasper shrugged off his black hooded shirt and covered her with it. He carefully pried each of her hands apart and placed fabric inside of her fists. She stirred a bit, her eyes halfway open and staring at him.

"Are you leaving?"

Jasper nodded. She looked down at her hands to see that her fingernails weren't digging into her skin.

"What's this?"

"It's a holocaust cloak. Go back to sleep." He gently brushed his fingers over his face, closing her eyes.


	6. Paper Moon

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing. I don't even want to say I own this chapter. *runs and hides*

twitter: monamumbles

**Previously**

_The credits rolled for the movie to begin. Throughout the first half, Jasper and Alice recited well-known lines to each other, laughing. Throughout the second half, Alice slipped slowly into her chair, yawning. Before the ending, her eyes finally closed and she was still. Jasper turned off the television and prepared to leave when he saw her coiled up and clenching her fists together. She was making whimpering noises while her face was contorted in displeasure. Jasper shrugged off his black hooded shirt and covered her with it. He carefully pried each of her hands apart and placed fabric inside of her fists. She stirred a bit, her eyes halfway open and staring at him._

_"Are you leaving?"_

_Jasper nodded. She looked down at her hands to see that her fingernails weren't digging into her skin._

_"What's this?"_

_"It's a holocaust cloak. Go back to sleep." He gently brushed his fingers over his face, closing her eyes._

* * *

**Paper Moon**

"I really appreciate this, Rose." Jasper's smile was about to wrap around his head, and the corners of his mouth just about touched behind his head. He leaned over his blue, sometime-around-eighty-nine Honda Civic Sedan, listening to the sound his car made in complete awe. It no longer made that annoying whirring noise or smelled like oil that had been set on fire.

"Well, what the hell else am I supposed to do for two weeks?" She asked, rhetorically, rubbing grease off her palms and onto her dark blue overalls. They were in their grandmother's garage that Saturday after Rosalie's ten-day suspension for fighting.

"You're lucky that girl didn't press charges on your crazy ass," Jasper told her with a grin on his face. He found it more than amusing to hear about her and Jessica and was disappointed that he had not been there to witness the glorious moment. However, Eric Yorkie was said to have recorded the whole thing on his digital camera.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Jess wouldn't dare. She's smart."

Jasper reached through the passenger's side window and turned the engine off. Rosalie had her open hand stretched out. He joined their hands together in a condescending handshake. "Thank you, loving cousin."

"I don't want your thanks." She slapped his hand away. "I want your money."

"But I'm your family! Does blood mean nothin' to you?"

"That's why I'm giving you a discount."

Jasper leaned against the passenger door with his hands in his pockets. He frowned at her skeptically. "How much we talkin'?"

"One seventy-five."

"Are you shittin' me? That big, Indian kid was only gonna charge me a-hundred."

"Maybe you should've went to him."

"He doesn't like me very much."

"Could it be because you keep referring to him as 'that big, Indian kid'?" Jasper muttered something under his breath about political correctness and boys up north being too soft. Rosalie threw the cloth over her shoulder. "Okay, Jazz. I'm in a good mood right now so you'll only pay one hundred dollars and I'll chalk the rest up as educational experience. This hunk of junk was exactly the kind of practice I needed."

"It's not junk." He pointed to her and she slapped his hand away again.

"Puhh-leeease," she scoffed. "I give you two years tops before it goes and then you and Bella could combine your scraps. That way, you guys'll have one decent mode of transportation."

Jasper attempted to give her an angry glare, but his face was contorted after a yawn. The glare resembled more of a baby passing gas. He settled for an offending finger instead.

"_Someone_ should've stayed home and slept instead of sneaking out in the middle of the night."

"I was on a quest to save a damsel in distress."

"You see? This is why we don't have long conversations. I don't speak pothead."

Jasper grinned again. "I was with Alice."

"_With_ her?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"She seem the type to you?"

"No, but I have to ask since you're known for your whoring ways."

"Don't you tarnish my good name," Jasper drawled thick and heavy with his Texas accent and sarcasm. "I know she's a good girl, but there's something else, am I right?"

Rosalie nodded as Jasper looked away, distantly.

"There's always something else," he sighed.

"Just try not to screw things up between you two."

"You think I could be with her? As fucked up as I am? She'd have a better time tryna put out a grease fire with her spit."

_Who comes up with this stuff_, Rosalie mused on, giving him a peculiar look. "You aren't as fucked up as you think, Jazz."

"Can't listen to a thing you say with you being biased and all."

"How so?"

"'Cause you're fucked up, too." Rosalie saw the faintest grin forming on his mouth just before he ran off into the house. He figured it would at least give him a couple seconds head start before she came running after him.

xxxxxxx

Jasper opened the pet carrier and out walked a grey, striped tabby cat. The cat crept slowly, suspicious of its new surroundings. He meowed, questioningly at the light breeze making its ears twitch and at the damp blades of grass under its paws.

"She's not going to run off?" Alice asked before making a noise to get the cat's attention. "Pss-pss!"

After Rosalie twisted Jasper's arm behind his back until he yelled 'uncle', (Jasper swore that he let her win) he texted Alice around noon. It was Saturday, and he still had a lot of time to kill before his big night, so he asked if it would be alright to bring his cat by for an impromptu, feline check-up.

Alice ever-so-subtly asked her father if it would be alright if one of her friends brought around a cat, just to give it the onceover. She and her father were still treading lightly around each other, but he was glad to see that she was socializing again. She wasn't very sure how he'd react to know that the owner of this cat was going to be a boy.

Jasper scratched the top of the cat's head, softly. "Lady might hate me, but she doesn't run away."

"Aw, you named her Lady? I was expecting something more…_you_."

He quietly laughed at her admission. Lady meowed at Alice, taking a few steps towards her, and then backtracking to the carrier.

"She's being very cautious," Alice said as she tried to quash the cat's nerves with soft, encouraging whispers.

Lady danced back and forth between Alice and the carrier. Each time, the cat would get closer to Alice and farther from the carrier. After much deliberation, the cat finally licked Alice's knuckle before jumping away entirely. Lady spun around and carefully walked over to Alice again, finally letting herself be petted.

"You sure your dad is gonna be okay with this?" Jasper asked once more.

Alice nodded, stroking Lady's fur and watching the cat's eyes close as it mellowed and purred.

"We don't ask dad for freebies, so he'll be fine with it…I think."

He squinted at her, doubtfully, just as the back door was opening.

Jasper rose to his feet when he saw her father in the doorway. Carlisle first glanced at Alice, playing with the cat in the grass, and then back at Jasper. Just as she predicted, her father did not expect the friend to be male. Jasper didn't know if it was the khaki slacks or the plaid button down or the perfectly quaffed, blonde hair, but there was definitely something about Carlisle that made Jasper stand a little straighter.

"I'm Jasper, sir."

Alice's forehead crinkled at the pleasantries, as the men shook hands. There was something about fathers that elicited teenage boys' best behaviors.

"And who's this?" Carlisle said, crouching down in the grass besides Alice and the cat.

"This is Lady," Alice answered, while Jasper reclaimed his spot on the ground.

Lady was so subdued by Alice's petting that she barely protested as the doctor inspected her. She didn't even gripe when she felt his hands feeling her stomach and checking her gums. Jasper sat in the grass, waiting for the worst. When the poking and prodding was finally over, Lady jumped into Jasper's arms. Jasper sat, looking at the doctor, preparing for the worst.

"I don't have all my equipment, _but_ Lady seems to be in good health," Carlisle told them.

Jasper released a loud breath.

"Good weight, good coat- the only thing I would watch for are her teeth. You could buy some of those finger toothbrushes for pets. She might put up a fight, but brushing every two days really helps with plaque buildup."

Jasper nodded, processing all the information. "So if there's nothin' wrong with her…she really does hate me."

Carlisle smiled at the cat curled up in Jasper's arms like a newborn baby. "It doesn't look like she hates you at all. When'd you say you got her?"

"Last week, sir."

Again, the formalities took Alice by surprise.

"I think she just needs to get used to her new home. Buy her some toys and treats and bring her outside to play. Cats can be pretty rambunctious. If you're still worried, bring her by the office and I'll take a closer look at her, alright?"

Jasper nodded again, "Thank you, sir. I really appreciate you seein' me outside the office."

"Yeah, thanks, dad," Alice said, sweetly.

"Not a problem," Carlisle said standing up. "I'll let Alice give me your address for the bill, though."

Carlisle went inside and shut the door so fast behind. He hadn't even seen Jasper's white face and wide eyes.

"He's kidding, Jasper, I swear. He pretends he's funny sometimes." Alice said with a small laugh. "I told you she'd be fine. How do you feel, knowing your cat's gonna live another day?"

"Relieved," Jasper sighed, laying back in the grass, looking up at the cloud-covered sun. Lady was laying on his chest as he pet her from the tip of her nose to the end of her tail. "By the way, don't take no offense to this, but…you kinda look nothin' like your dad."

Alice smiled, "We're adopted."

"Oh," Jasper said. "Well, this is awkward."

"Don't feel awkward. Most people want to ask, but they just stare." Alice sort of liked that he said whatever was on his mind.

"I feel like we're being watched," Jasper said, looking straight up.

She turned around to see that the curtains on the second floor had moved minutely. She knew that it wasn't Edward because he was out with friends and her father wouldn't snoop. Intimidation and instilling fear was more his style. She let out a small growl of frustration, making Jasper laugh.

"_Now_, it's awkward."

"Someone's gonna get the taaaalk," he sang, teasing her.

"Oh, shut up," she said, looking up at the window only to see the curtains move again. This time, she saw her mother's hair between the fabric. "You should go before they invite you to dinner, or something."

Still laughing, he got up and coaxed Lady back inside the carrier. "You didn't even get to see my new car. I'll give you a ride to school on Monday, how 'bout that?"

"Sure," she said without thinking.

"Thanks again for the free vet care."

Alice watched him disappear around the corner and wondered how she could say yes to him so quickly. It was easy to forget who she was around him. It was easy to forget what she'd become. She had isolated herself from civilization for months, yet could not seem to distance herself from Jasper.

xxxxxxx

_She_ was _not_ a good girl. Jasper could tell that much by her touch. Her fingertips gracefully found the studded belt and pushed it through the metal buckle. It was graceful enough to have been a practiced action. She had done this many times before. Enough times for her hands to be able to maneuver skillfully in the darkness of Jasper's car. It was late, so she suggested a secluded spot for them.

She had been here before, no doubt. Jasper wondered how many times. What number was he? Her kiss was practiced, as well. Each flick of her tongue and pucker of her lips were stained with the taste of beer; her hair smelled of the fruity shampoo she had used that afternoon and the weed they smoked that night. Her body was positioned on his lap, back curved; she leaned back against the steering wheel with the painted on smile of a seductress. Her tight top came off with ease.

Someone told her that this was beauty, Jasper thought. The moonlight shimmered off her brown skin, as soft words invaded his thoughts.

_She walks in beauty, like the night-_

"Byron," Jasper broke away from the kiss and whispered against her lips.

She simply smiled and said, "That's not my name." Leaning into him once more, she pressed her lips against his. Her expert hands found him just then. The poem jumbled now, scrambled and lost with the rest of his coherency. They joined where she needed him desperately. She needed Jasper to make her feel, if only for just the night.

"Jazz…" She whispered his name, almost as if she was begging. What she wanted, he could only guess, but doubted he could ever be the one to give it to her. _Make me feel. _"Touch me." She took his hand, placing it on her bare skin. _Hold my hand._

Jasper took her skin into his mouth where it hardened between his teeth. He tugged with trepidation, afraid to hurt her.

"You…can bite harder, Jazz. It's okay." _Make me feel it. The rest make me feel it._

Jasper bit harder, at the request. Her brown curls cascaded down her back as she threw her head back with a hiss. He could feel her acrylic nails combing through his hair, pulling him closer. The assault on her skin continued up her chest and to her neck. He lost himself then between the drugs in his system and the sultry sounds she was making. His hand gripped either sides her waist. The steering wheel now ground into her back, while something animalistic came from him.

"Ungh, _yes!_ Dame mas, that feels so good…mas duro!" she shrieked. _I wish we would go slower._

Her small voice escalated into high-pitched of pleading for him to push farther. Fuck harder.

His hips lifted to match her rhythm, slapping hard. All the discomfort that came with being in the cramped space was forgotten. He was just that much closer to touching the moon. To bringing her there.

"Shitshit, _shit_…" Jasper murmured. His movements came faster now. The noise they were making all came together. It was a loud orchestra of slick skin against slick skin, screaming and guttural moans. His hands palmed her backside, bringing her body down hard onto his.

She let go first. They were out of sync; her body melted like sun-kissed caramel in his hands. Her head fell into the crook of his neck, too tired to hold it up anymore. As she tensed around him, he felt himself let go, too. She kissed his jaw line as he gradually slowed. Her arms wrapped around his body, tightly, just as he moved to pull his pants up.

"Jazz, wait a second," she whispered, ashamed. Reluctantly, he wrapped his arms around her back.

_Don't let me go yet._

* * *

__

Dame mas: Give me more!  
Mas duro: Harder!__

ohmygod, lol *hiding again*


End file.
